Hawaii Baby!!
Hope all is well in the yard tonight! I just got back from the Hawaii Invitational lax tournament over the past weekend and all I can say is WOW! What a place, and what a week. I have been a lot of places in my life, but I have to say that Hawaii is by far the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I am incredibly glad we decided to go. As I said in my last blog, I was going on behalf of Wimmer Solutions, a company out of Seattle, to compete in the tournament. Matt Sauri, the CEO of Winner assembled one of the most talented lacrosse teams I have ever been on. Guys like the Powell Brothers (Casey and Ryan), Matt Allrich, Kyle Harrison (fellow YB), Joe Walters, Anthony Kelly, Steven Brooks, Justin Smith, Brodie Merrill, Jack Reid, Kyle Hartzell, Eric Martin and of course Brett Queener in the cage. We ended up winning the Elite final, by defeating the Crease Monkey's 10-8. They were loaded with talent as well. Jordan Hall, Jeff Zywicki, Chazz Woodson, Geoff Snider and Jon Christmas all played for the Monkey's. It was great to complete the "sweep" for the Wimmer Solutions team as the Masters team also captured the title, greatly due to the play of Tommy the Keeper, or Tommy the Great! I've always said the greatest thing about playing in all-star games or in events like this is that you get to play with different people and get to know other players on different levels. I quite enjoyed getting to know everyone on our team, but really enjoyed how Ryan Powell plays attack. He is so smooth and smart; he makes the game so much easier for everyone around him. I also enjoyed getting to know our fellow YardBarker, Kyle Harrison. I had never met him before this weekend, and he is big time cool and an outstanding player as well. He can switch directions on a dime, and navigate the field so easily. It was cool to spend some time with him for sure. Aside from lax, I got to do some very cool things that were very much out of my wheel house. I tried surfing for the first time, and killed it?or so my instructor told me. I also did some snorkeling with my wife which was very cool. We rode our scooter up the East Coast line as well as drove to the North Shore to check out how the real surfers do their thing. While in the North Shore I had one of the best burgers I have ever eaten. I can't remember the name of the place now, but if someone knows what I am talking about let me know. We were recommended it by a local, and it did not disappoint! Moving along now, I am going to start training hard in anticipation of our first weekend of training camp in late November in San Jose. I have roughly three weeks to prepare, so I must make the most of my time. I am also working on plans for camps and clinics across Canada and the States for next season, so stay tuned on that front. I am also working on some cool new things with Gait lacrosse; I will keep you posted as they move along as well. Reading some of the other blogs and watching a lot of television myself lately, I noticed a very cool trend. Commercials are starting to become cool again. I remember the last little while that sporting commercials were becoming lame. I think the "Click Clack" Underarmour concept got the ball rolling again and companies are starting to make great commercials again. It made me thing of what commercial I was most influenced by when I was growing up. I didn't have to think long, because I can remember vividly the Nike commercial for the original Hirachi (not sure of the spelling) shoe. Let me know if you remember the one I am talking about: Rolling Stones "you can't always get what you want" song set in an outdoor basketball court. That and the fact that the Fab Five of Michigan was rocking them at the time, had me hook line and sinker?your thoughts? Again, I have to thank Matt Sauri and the Wimmer Solutions team for having me be part of the Hawaii experience. My wife and I are hooked and can't wait to get back next year to defend our title!! I have also added in a picture of the WImmer Solutions Elite Team Champions...enjoy! Cheers, Colin #7
StealthDragon said October 29, 2008
Thanks,
Colin
zmystere said October 29, 2008
Can't wait for the upcoming season, I look forward to seeing how good we can be!
Cheers,
Colin
Diana said October 30, 2008
Oh, and is that pic on the field in front of Diamond Head? I think I stayed in a house about two blocks East of that when I was in Oahu.
We start training camp at the end of November and then our first game early in the New Year, can't wait to see you at some of our games!
Yes, that was Diamond Head in the background. We were litterally five minutes from there when we played, very cool.
Cheers,
Colin #7